Older ship, geared more towards the older generation

Item: Veendam
Rating: 3.1
Author: mrssellis13

Veendam Cruise Review to Caribbean - Eastern

mrssellis13

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 43

Overall rating:

3.1 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Eastern Caribbean (Ft. Lauderdale Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 28, 2018

Ship: Veendam

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 031

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Our ship experience fell flat from the expectations we originally had for them. We paid more for this cruise as we thought it would be more "luxury" but were disappointed with the lack of activities and entertainment on board. It seemed like the entertainment ended around 9 pm every night, and they didn't provide anything more after. There was no comedy club, no dancing, nothing open late night. The food provided was definitely the better of the ships we've been on, but we had a poor experience with the customer service we were provided by the dining room. We had a bad instance with one of the waiters, Nova, and this tainted our overall experience. It was nice to get away, but we will not be using Holland again for our travels.

Embarkation

4 out of 5

It was smooth

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5

The food provided was definitely the better of the ships we've been on, but we had a poor experience with the customer service we were provided by the dining room. We had a bad instance with one of the waiters, Nova, and this tainted our overall experience. It was nice to get away, but we will not be using Holland again for our travels.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Our ship experience fell flat from the expectations we originally had for them. We paid more for this cruise as we thought it would be more "luxury" but were disappointed with the lack of activities and entertainment on board. It seemed like the entertainment ended around 9 pm every night, and they didn't provide anything more after. There was no comedy club, no dancing, nothing open late night. The activities they did have were more geared towards an older generation, such as test kitchen demonstrations (no samples), windows workshops (how to use the computer), and games of bridge in the morning. If you're a younger crowd looking for more to do, this isn't your ship.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

Droom was TERRIBLY disappointing. The dancers were mediocre if that, and the singers were below par. We reluctantly sat through this show, as we didn't want to be rude, and there wasn't many other entertainment options to do onboard. The guitarist they had was great, and the BBC show was good. Other than that, we were disappointed.

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

It was clean, but definitely run down. Our bathroom had caulking all around the shower surround that had been redone several times. There were also scratches in our sinks, and dents on the walls. The design in the ship was very outdated.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

This was definitely larger than the other staterooms we've been in, but still small. There was a little couch in the room that gave us additional seating.

Ship tip

This is an older boat, geared towards an older crowd. There aren't many entertainment options to do onboard, and we were disappointed to see they only had one small pool (which was so full of kids you couldn't get in if you wanted). The entertainment at night was lacking, and there was minimal interaction with staff. On other ships I was greeted by names, and there was more of a "team" that did activities such as bingo, deal or no deal, game shows, and things throughout and this boat had none of that. There was no comedy club, or late night activities. If you're looking for more to do, this isn't your ship.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Half Moon Cay, Bahamas (Private Island)

5 out of 5

Beautiful private island. No other people but our boat. Didn't have to pay for chairs or umbrellas. Was great.

Thumbs Up 9

Grand Turk Island

4 out of 5

Was beautiful, but packed. You walked right off the ship to the beach which was nice.

Thumbs Up 10

San Juan, Puerto Rico

3 out of 5

Super hot this day, and not a whole lot to do. We took a taxi to Isla Verde Beach which was PACKED, and the taxi took a while to get out there. We were afraid to go any farther as we would be stuck in traffic. Isla Verdes beach did NOT have clear waters, and did not have soft sand.

Thumbs Up 3

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

Super smooth

3 Comments

Gwbigdog 2 years ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

Thumbs Up 0

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majmom96 6 years ago

Sorry your HAL experience was not what you expected. It could be due to your ship selection. The newer ships like the Nieuw Amsterdam and Koningsdam have more late night venues with the Billboard on Board and B.B. Kings Jazz Club that go late into the evening. HAL definitely does provide a more luxurious cruise experience, and as such, does not really sponsor the more “cheesy” entertainment activities like belly flop contests or game shows. They do focus more on the food and the service, although I’m sorry you didn’t experience the usual exceptional service we’ve always had on HAL. Good luck on your future cruise selections and I hope you find a line to your liking. 🍸

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FirehawkBob 6 years ago

I've sailed HAL 19 times and will not sail on the Veendam again. Sorry to hear your bad experience though as we love HAL overall but you are right about late night activities. If there is a younger crowd on board there will be more dancing etc late night as they tend to make their own fun.

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